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Every Middle Eastern country has a version of grilled Kofta Kebabs. It's hard to imagine anything more delicious! Especially with garlicky yogurt sauce! This recipe shows you how to make authentic Turkish Kofta Kebabs at home.

Grilled Turkish Kofta Kebabs


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4.9 from 11 reviews

Description

Grilled skewers of spiced-up ground lamb or beef, served Turkish style with fresh vegetables, pita and garlicky yogurt sauce. These flavor-packed lamb (or beef) kofta kebabs are great for summer grilling and perfect for feeding a crowd.


Ingredients

Units Scale

Equipment: 6 long metal skewers, preferably flat (12 inches or longer) or 12 shorter skewers. If you use bamboo skewers, soak them in water first, for at least 30 minutes.

For the Garlicky Yogurt Sauce:

  • 1 1/4 cups plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 small garlic clove, finely minced
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon sumac
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the Lamb:

  • 2 pounds ground lamb (or beef)
  • 1 small yellow onion, grated, blotted with paper towel to soak up excess liquid
  • 1 large bunch flat leaf parsley leaves, divided
  • 3 tablespoons Urfa pepper
  • 2 teaspoons sumac
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

Accompaniments for Serving:

  • 2 ripe tomatoes, sliced thinly
  • 1 english cucumber, thinly sliced
  • 1 red onion, thinly sliced, soaked in cold water for 10 minutes, drained
  • Parsley leaves, remaining from above
  • 12-18 romaine lettuce leaves, washed and dried
  • 3-6 pitas, sliced in half
  • Additional sumac, for sprinkling over the vegetables and kebabs

Instructions

  1. In a medium bowl, combine yogurt sauce ingredients: yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, sumac and salt. Cover and store in the fridge until ready to use. Can be made up to a day ahead. When ready to use, transfer to a small serving bowl and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon sumac.
  2. Finely chop 1/4 cup of the parsley leaves to use for the kebabs. Leave the rest whole and set aside.
  3. In a large bowl combine lamb, grated onion, chopped parsley, urfa pepper, sumac, and salt. Work the ingredients together with your hands for a couple of minutes until they are fully incorporated.
  4. Divide the meat mixture into 6 or 12 equal portions, depending on the size of your skewers. You can simply skewer them them squeeze them into long sausage shapes or you can try the ridge technique: Keep a bowl of ice water handy to dip your hand in if the meat starts to stick to you. Slide a portion of meat onto the skewer and stand the skewer upright - pointy side down - holding the top with one hand. Use the other hand form the meat into a long, ridged, sausage shape by gently squeezing it from top to bottom, and pressing the side of your thumb in as you go, to make the ridges. Flip the skewer and repeat the process, squeezing and ridging the other side. Keep flipping and repeating until you have a long, flat, ridged kebab. Store the kebabs in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap, until ready to grill. (see photos in the post for help with shaping the kebabs onto the skewers)
  5. Arrange tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, parsley and lettuce on a large serving platter. Sprinkle onions and cucumbers with 1/2 teaspoon sumac. Set aside while you grill the kofta kebabs.
  6. Heat the grill to high. Charcoal grilling is more authentic but gas works well, too. Oil the grates of the grill to prevent sticking. Grill the kebabs for one minute on each side to seal them, then grill them for about 8 minutes longer, flipping them halfway through. Remove the kebabs from the grill, turn off the heat, and set the pitas on the hot grates for a few minutes, to warm.
  7. While the pita is warming, carefully remove the skewers from the kofta (they'll be hot!). Set the kofta onto a large platter and season with 1/2 teaspoon sumac. Add the warmed pitas to the platter.
  8. To serve, set out the platters of kofta, pita and vegetables with a bowl of the garlicky yogurt sauce on the side and let everyone help themselves.

Notes

Nutrition Information: The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and is not a substitute for the advice of a professional nutritionist. This nutrition calculation includes everything in the recipe except the pita bread.

  • Prep Time: 35 mins
  • Cook Time: 10 mins
  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Barbecue
  • Cuisine: Turkish